Brockus Conservatory of Dance and Musical Theater announces the beginning of its fifth year in Redlands.

Director Deborah Brockus chose Redlands after her company BrockusRED performed in August 2009 at the Redlands Bowl. The company also performed in this season’s Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival.

In the fall of 2009, when Brockus was considering cities for a training school, she said Redlands made the 10 cities because of its love of the arts, inviting atmosphere and preserved historic homes.

Redlands is close enough to Los Angeles for the faculty to drive out to teach and for the students to go to Los Angeles for master classes and to see shows and perform. Once the choice was down to three cities, Brockus said she chose Redlands because of the welcoming Chamber of Commerce.

She said she and the faculty, students and their families and are happy with the decision to locate the Brockus Conservatory in Redlands.

Brockus Conservatory specializes in pre-professional arts training for 11- to 18-year-olds who are looking to work in the arts.

In small classes with professionals who dive in from Los Angeles, dancers work on learning their craft five hours a day, six days a week. The students are from Redlands, other local towns and other states.

Some students attend a few days a week, others full time, and they train in all styles of dance.

The training includes field trips into Los Angeles to work with companies such as Alvin Ailey, Paul Taylor, Martha Graham, David Parson, Complexions and Shaping Sounds.

Field trips also include museums and outdoor sites.

The conservatory’s musical theater training is connected with Musical Theater University and Desert Cities Musical Theater in Palm Springs for main stage musicals where students are on stage performing with former Broadway leads.

Brockus Conservatory students have gone on to major colleges and universities in the United States and Europe and into working positions in companies.

Brockus Conservatory is in a historic building at 342 Orange St., Redlands.

Enrollment is open for the fall term, which begins Sept. 8.

For information, visit www.BrockusConservatory.org or contact Deborah Brockus at 562-412-7429.